🔗 Share this article

The UK's top law officer, one of the most senior Jewish ministers, has demanded Nigel Farage to issue an apology to school contemporaries who allege he targeted with racist abuse them during their school days.

Hermer said that Farage had "undoubtedly deeply hurt" many people, according to their accounts of his past behaviour. He added that the leader's "shifting" explanations had been difficult to believe.

“Throughout his answers to legitimate questions, not once has Farage actually condemned antisemitism,” Hermer informed a publication.

Further Testimonies Emerge

A recent investigation last month outlined the accounts of several one-time schoolmates of Farage from Dulwich College.

One, a former pupil, recalled that a teenage Farage "would sidle up to me and utter: ‘Hitler was right’ or ‘gas them’, at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas showers”.

Another minority ethnic pupil claimed that when he was about nine, he was singled out by a older Farage.

“He came over to a pupil with two tall mates and spoke to anyone looking ‘different’,” the person said. “That included me on three separate times; questioning me where I was from, and gesturing, saying: ‘Go back that way,’ to wherever you answered you were from.”

Since then, more people have emerged; about 20 people have now claimed they were either victims of or saw hurtful past behaviour by Farage.

The incidents they described cover the period when Farage was aged a teenager.

Evolving Explanations

The Reform leader has denied that anything he did was "blatantly" racist or antisemitic, and has suggested the former classmates were being untruthful.

Commentators have highlighted that Farage has neglected to condemn antisemitism and other forms of racism in a wider sense in his denials.

They also cite his inability to reprimand a fellow Reform MP, a MP, after she complained about the number of ethnic minorities she saw in television commercials. She later said sorry for the statements.

“Nigel Farage’s shifting account about his behaviour to his Jewish classmates [is] not credible, to say the least,” Hermer said.

He continued: “Claiming that two dozen individuals have all misremembered the same things about his offensive behaviour simply lacks credibility."

Call for Leadership

“If he aspires to be seen as a serious contender for the top job, he must address the concerns of the Jewish community, and say sorry to the many people he has clearly deeply hurt by his behaviour,” Hermer stated.

“Prejudice in all its forms is abhorrent to the values of this country and we must not permit it to ever become legitimised in politics.”

In a separate interview, a senior politician said Farage should “make a statement” if he wanted to look like a true statesman.

“It says a lot how very little he has to say, and the guarded phrasing that both you and I would understand as being crafted in a certain style to communicate, but also avoid saying certain things,” she remarked.

Formal Denials and Subsequent Comments

In legal letters prior to the release of the investigation, Farage’s representatives stated that “the allegation that Mr Farage ever took part in, supported, or led racist or antisemitic behaviour is strongly rejected”.

Farage later seemingly shifted his explanation in an appearance, saying: “Have I said things 50 years ago that you could see as being teenage humour, you could interpret in a modern light today in a certain manner? Yes.”

He added that he had “never directly attempted to go and upset anybody”. Farage subsequently released a new statement: “I can tell you definitely that I did not say the things that have been printed aged 13, decades in the past.”